Just a Prank (Title subject to change)

Author’s Note: Kay, so I got a couple ideas for Suite Life fics after buying all the available eps. on iTunes, (YEY!XD) so yeah, here’s the first one! A short one-shot with a lil’ Zack x Maddie since I totally love this couple and there just aren’t enough fics with them out there; takes place as an alternative ending to ‘The Ghost of 613.’

Disclaimer: I do not own Maddie, Zack and Cody, or anyone/thing else from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Disney has, sadly, all the rights…with the possible exception of the Sprouse Twins themselves.

Zack panicked. The luminous figures enclosed on him, glowing eerily in the moonlight. Zack’s eyes gripped the darkness in fear, widening impossibly in search of light. He was frozen to the spot, and couldn’t for the life of him urge his legs to run.

‘C’mon legs, move! MOVE!’

He let out a scream and threw his arms over his eyes. ‘I wish I had never dared Cody to sleep here with me! I wish I had never wanted to see the ghost! I wish I had never been—‘

Zack suddenly heard familiar laughter, and lowered his arms slowly down from over his eyes. He was greeted with the sight of his friends, white sheets pooling around their feet.

‘—pranked?’

“Gotcha! That’ll be 5 bucks.”

Zack faced his twin with wide eyes. “Wha…?”

Cody smirked. “Special effects courtesy of Arwin Q. Hawkhouser.” He and the like applauded as Arwin stepped out from the shadows, with the skeleton around his shoulders and a control box around his neck.

As the mechanic went through explaining the effects, Zack’s minded clouded over.

‘So it wasn’t…real.’

The lights flipped on as Maddie walked over to the table with a flat white box.

“Anyone for pizza?” The others chucked and moved forward to grab a slice, but Zack stayed rooted to his spot.

London took a nibble and glanced over at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

Cody walked back to his brother and burst out laughing. He shoved him lightly in the shoulder. “Oh come ON Zack, I know you aren’t that scared…Zack?”

Zack stood trembling hard, his green-blue eyes filling with tears. He whimpered and his jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.

By this time all eyes were on him as he stood there, his only motion being the tears raining down his cheeks. None of them had ever seen that expression on Zack’s face, even Cody hadn’t.

Cody reached out for him. “Za—”

Zack tore out of the room, so fast there was a draft after he’d already vanished out the door. Cody was alarmed, to say the least. He dove out the door, following Zack as hard as his legs would carry him.

Cody called out for his brother to stop, but he didn’t. Zack tore around the corner of the hallway, providing a delay that allowed Cody to catch up with him. He caught his arm and pulled Zack back, catching him under the arms as he stumbled backward.

“Zack what is wrong with you!” Cody was confused. He’d never seen Zack like this, and they were twins!

He didn’t answer, his long bangs covering his eyes as he caught his breath. Cody just stared helplessly at him, at a loss for words. Though as soon as he opened his mouth Zack ripped his arms from his brother’s grip and sped off down the hallway, ignorant to his twin’s desperate calls.

Cody knew that even if he caught up with Zack he wouldn’t talk to him. He hung his head sadly. Maybe they’d overdone it with the whole ghost thing…

Cody sighed miserably and trudged back to Suite 613, shoulders slumped and eyes cast downward. ‘Well there’s nothing I can do now…too late, he’s already mad. Good job Cody, you get back at Zack for all the times he’s scared you and you end up not only hurting him but hurting yourself.’

“Whoever said ‘revenge is sweet’ must have been crazy…because it’s anything but…it sucks.”

Maddie was feeling like that day was a good day. She got her paycheck, aced her finals, and was finally getting the chance to get back at Zack for all the times he pranked her!

So to say she was a little surprised when Zack really got scared was an understatement. And to say she was really surprised when he started crying was the understatement of the year. And to say she was more than really surprised when he ran from the room was, well, that just takes the cake.

‘So much for my good day.’

Quite honestly, at first, she thought he deserved it. Some of his pranks were really mean, like putting sneezing powder on Chuck’s collar when they were going out so that she sneezed in his face when they were kissing, for example. ‘God that was so embarrassing. Chuck still isn’t talking to me, and he flinches every time someone sneezes…’

But when she saw that hurt and scared expression on his face, her heart broke. It made her eyes water just looking at him. So when Cody walked back into the room, she was the first to speak.

“Is he okay?” It came out more frantic than she intended, but thankfully no one noticed.

Cody shook his head, near tears. “He won’t talk to me. I asked him what was wrong and he ran away from me. I don’t know where he went…”

Maddie frowned. If he wouldn’t talk to Cody maybe he’d talk to her. She rolled her eyes at the thought. ‘Cody’s his twin, if he won’t talk to him when what on earth makes me think he’ll talk to me?’

A thought began to make its way into her head, but she pushed it aside. Maddie sighed, dropping her slice of pizza back into the box and stepping forward. “Lemme go find him.”

Cody muttered something like a ‘good luck’ and slumped down into a chair glumly, while the others tried to reassure him.

Maddie headed out the door slowly at first, then quickened her pace to a run. She didn’t know why she was so worried about him, but something nagging at her brain was telling her to go find him. She ran clear past the door to the stairwell leading to the roof, and backtracked as she saw it opened. Putting two and two together, she dashed up the stairs three at a time and made it to the top at record speed, breathless.

‘Note to self, don’t do that again.’

Maddie pushed gently on the slightly open door, and shivered as a gust of Boston winter air combed itself through her thin clothing. Looking around, she spotted the young blonde sitting with his knees up to his chest, looking out on the town with a glazed look in his eyes.

Maddie calmed herself as her heart raced for a reason unknown to her, and approached him.

“…Zack?”

His name came out so soft she herself wasn’t sure if she had said anything at all. She inched closer and cleared her throat quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder and trying again.

“Zack?”

Zack jumped out of his skin, twitching so violently Maddie jumped too, startled. She put a hand over her heart, huffing as he looked up. “God Zack don’t do that, you scared the crap out of me!”

Something in his eyes flashed as he looked back down angrily. “Now you know how I feel.” He muttered.

Maddie sighed and sat down next to him, looking at him worriedly. She called his name softly as he looked back at her again before turning his head out to the city.

“What’s wrong?”

He grumbled a ‘nothing’, refusing to meet her gaze.

She smiled slightly. “You’re not just mad because we pulled one on you, are you.” It was more stated than asked, and he finally turned his head.

“How do you know? Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

Maddie laid a hand on his arm. “I think I know you well enough by now to tell when something’s wrong, Zack.” Her eyes clearly showed worry for him, and he looked away again. “Please tell me?”

Zack sighed deeply. Clearly the ‘I’m mad’ thing wasn’t working. “Well…”

Maddie put her arm around his shoulders in a half hug, and he instantly relaxed. She smiled, and one look at that smile could make him pour his heart out.

Which is exactly what he did.

Zack took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “It was when we were 6. A carnival had come to town and me and Cody begged our mom to take us. There was such a big crowd that day…”

:Flashback:

A small, sandy-blond haired boy pushed through the throngs of people, calling out desperately. “Mamma! Cody! Where are you!” He looked around desperately, but only found unfamiliar faces.

The boy’s eyes filled with tears as he brought his arm to his face, rubbing his nose on his sleeve. Zack Martin sniffed miserably, trudging along the pathway of red and white striped tents and scary-looking clowns.

“I hate the carnival…” He whined sadly. Zack dropped to the ground right in the middle of the busy walkways and pulled his knees to his chest, burying his head into his arms and started to cry. He couldn’t hear anything except his own sobs echoing in his ears. He looked up again and gasped, falling backwards onto his back.

He couldn’t hear anything because there was nothing to hear. Nor was there anything to see. Little Zack found himself surrounded by darkness, a static silence buzzing through his ears. He shivered, feeling unnaturally cold. Goosebumps rose on his skin, and Zack panicked.

“Mamma! Cody! MAMMA, CODY, HELP!” he cried, but got no response except the echoes of his own voice.

Zack froze as suddenly a dull thudding reached his ears; the sound of boots on a wooden floor. His pulse quickened as it felt like he was trying to swallow his heart. His breath caught and fear gripped him blindly until…

Out of the shadows came a tall figure, only it’s silhouette visible to the small boy. He called out carefully.

“…Mamma…?”

The figure didn’t move, and out of the corner of his eye Zack saw three other figures emerge from the depths of the shadows, circling in on him.

The little blonde shook violently, having once more lost his voice. He watched, rooted to the spot and helpless, as they encroached upon him, the thudding getting louder and louder until Zack couldn’t take it, and a scream of bloody-murder ripped from his throat. He threw his arms over his eyes in vain attempt to hide.

But just as sudden as it came, it stopped, until the only noise Zack could hear was his own ragged breathing. He slowly removed his tear-streaked face from under his arms, and looked around fearfully. He almost relaxed until a hand shot out from nowhere and gripped his neck. Zack screamed again, and then…

…there was darkness.

:End Flashback:

Zack looked back out over the rooftop, the Boston city lights flickering in his eyes. “I don’t know what happened after that. When I woke up, I was in the hospital with Mom and Cody sitting next to me. At first I thought I had a nightmare or something, but I had a bandage around my neck, so I figured it couldn’ta been a dream.”

By this time Zack was practically in her lap, and Maddie had her arms wrapped around him in a full hug. He buried his face into her shoulder and laughed quietly.

“They said they found me on some hill 3 miles away from the carnival, and brought me to the hospital ‘cause I didn’t wake up. For 3 days. I guess, ‘cause that’s how long I’d been out…s’what they told me, at least.”

Maddie felt a strong pang of guilt, so strong it made her feel sick. She couldn’t believe someone could go through something like that and still be able to talk about it. And the fact that she made him relive it was killing her.

He pulled away so he could look at her and gave a smile. “That’s why I was so…uhm, freaked, earlier…it was just so much like…like the other time that it almost felt like it, ya know, happened again.”

Maddie couldn’t of felt any worse in her entire lifetime than she did at that moment. So she did the only thing she could think of: tried to lighten the mood.

“You can just say you were scared.”

“No way! Being scared is for wusses!”

Maddie smiled and rolled her eyes. “You know, girls like guys who are man enough to say they’re scared when they are…”

Zack sat up straight. “I was scared! Totally scared! SO scared I forgot what I was scared about!”

Maddie failed in keeping a straight face and burst into laughter, Zack joining in. They soon faded into a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other’s company. It was after a short time that Maddie let out a sad sigh, catching Zack’s attention.

“Now it’s my turn. What’s wrong?”

Maddie cast him a guilty look. “I’m really sorry Zack…I had no idea…” She trailed off, resting her chin on her knees.

Zack smiled and shook his head, his dirty-blonde bangs swishing from side to side. “What’re you sorry for? You didn’t know, so it’s cool.”

“Yeah I guess…” Maddie felt a twinge of anger. “But Cody should have! He’s the one who planned the whole thing anyway! Why would he do that if he knew all this!”

Zack cast a wayward glance. “Wellll…actually he doesn’t…”

“He doesn’t?”

Zack gave her a sheepish grin. “I never told anyone what happened…”

Maddie stared at him, shocked. “You never told anyone? Then why would you…”

“Tell you?”

“Yeah, that.”

Zack smiled. “Ya know, I was serious when I said I liked you. At your Prom?” He sighed, his smile dropping slightly. “But it’s okay ‘cause I know you don’t—“

“Like you back?”

“Yeah…that.”

Maddie’s cheeks turned red as she intertwined her fingers with his.

“I never said that.”

Zack whipped his head around so fast she almost winced. His face glowed with happiness. “Then you mean…?”

Maddie got up and pulled him with her, giving him a coy smile. “Come on, we should probably get back.”

Zack let himself be lead back inside, floating on Cloud 9. He didn’t notice the warmth seep back into his skin inside, nor did he notice when they got back to the suite. He didn’t notice his friends apologize over their prank, or when his twin asked if he was okay.

The only thing Zack Martin noticed, was that the whole time, she hadn’t once let go of his hand.

- Fin -

Author’s Note: Okay! Now everyone go ‘awww’. XD Hahaha, so what’dja think? Maybe I’ll write a second half if I get some response. No, I’m NOT one of those authors whose like, “If I get 234,453,474 reviews I’ll continue!” I will honestly write a second half if I get some IDEAS, NOT REVIEWS! …But of course nothing motivates an author faster! grins